handmade by stefanie

Not too long ago, I confessed that I had been hoarding a Mother Bear Project Kit in my stash . Oh, the shame - how long have I been depriving a child from having a beary special friend? Better not to dwell too long on that and instead focus on the fact that I finally made the knit it up, thanks to this KAL . Here is the post-knitting, pre-assembly photo: Somehow, this will become a cute bear! I have to admit that I didn't love knitting this project due to yarn considerations, but when it came time to assemble it, I was pretty excited to think about who would receive it and love it and maybe run into their house to save it right before a flood passes through their village*. These bears become prized possessions to their recipients, so I wanted to make it extra cute, and I was sure to stitch a heart on it so that they knew that somewhere in the world, there was a person who loved them enough to knit them a bear.* Ta-Done! For anyone who just can't handle knit...

I finished my Wonder Woman shawl just in time for Wizard World , which we went to yesterday (though the con goes through this Sunday). Here I am nerding it up, as one does at such events: I used 2 skeins of Bijou Basin Ranch Shangri-La yak/silk lace weight yarn and US 3 needles to make a smaller version of this shawl (and it only took 1 skein of each color - below you can see how much yarn I had left over). The yarn is so gorgeous, and I really love how the shawl turned out! I used the  free pattern by Carissa Browning, found here on Ravelry . Since I started this project, she has added more size options and a  crochet version of this pattern  - I followed the instructions for what is now the larger size. This took up most of our kitchen floor! Funny story: I meant to knit this project with US 4 needles, but didn't notice I had grabbed the next size down until I was about halfway through the project. Oops! But, the shawl blocked out to a very nice dim...

All of my active WIPs have been cleared off the needles! Let me repeat: Every. Single. One. So you know what that means....I get to start new things! Since Baby Wave 2017 shows no signs of slowing down, I cast on for another baby sweater (does the yarn look familiar?) - this time, I am using a new-to-me pattern and modifying it a bit so that I can use worsted weight yarn and US 6 needles. Originally, I was going to make this in green and blue, but at the last minute I decided that a blue-on-blue version would be more fun. The only other project I've started so far is a cowl  using the gradient yarn I bought in Kansas City back in June. I had a hard time picking what pattern I wanted to use with this yarn, but then I remembered spotting a project by Julie of Knitted Bliss that paired the Starshower Cowl pattern with a skein of gradient yarn. Currently, it looks like a small dark blob of yarn, but as the purple to blue gradient starts to emerge, I think it'll loo...

Most of my knitting time & energy over the past week has been focused on finishing up the Wonder Woman Wrap. All of the ends are woven in, so it just needs a good blocking and I can call it done! In the mean time, I am still working on the Inauguration Consolation shawl - I guess it wasn't a photo finish after all! A recent cleanout of my yarn stash revealed that I had a unused Mother Bear Project kit hiding in my craft room. Who knows how long I have been depriving a child of a cute knitted bear? I started knitting the kit last weekend, hoping that would make me feel a little less guilty....but it's not working because now I have a new thing to feel guilty about: for instance, I dislike working with the yarn from the kit. I'm pretty sure it's Red Heart, and it hurts my hands and just feels yucky to me. But after reading the enclosed brochure that talked about how much the kids love their bears and consider them a prized treasure, I've resolved to get ove...

I was excited to try a new yarn courtesy of Heart of the Mitten , an online store & yarn shop in Michigan who is also the exclusive US retailer of Dale Garn. Lerke Pluss , is a shop exclusive available in a gorgeous palette of 20 colors . It's an interesting blend of 53% Merino wool and 47% Egyptian Cotton, and it's made up of several plies which creates a nice, round yarn with lots of bounce - so if you find traditional cotton yarns tough to work with, this yarn is worth giving a try. Plus, it arrived with a packet of delicious tea! I really liked this yarn overall; the only downside I can come up with is that the yardage per skein is on the low side (87 yards in 50g). That's not a problem for a small project, but if you plan to make something larger like a sweater, be prepared to weave in a lot of ends. Having said that, I'm confident that the effort will be worth it. This yarn has excellent stitch definition and is super-soft, but I have a feeling that it wi...

I think it's going to be a photo finish for the dueling shawls; the final rows of my Wonder Woman Wrap are looooong, though I don't have many left to knit: While I have further to go on my Inauguration Consolation shawl, the rows are just a bit shorter: Even more exciting, however, is that I have only ONE other WIP on the needles: the ill-fated Dillinger Hat , which is still in time out. I think I ripped back far enough to fix the mistakes I made, so it's just a matter of picking it back up and finishing it. Easier said than done! Here's hoping I can finish one, some or all of these WIPs this coming weekend so that I can start some new, exciting projects!

Part of the appeal of a chunky or bulky weight sweater probably has something to do with how quickly it knits up...but I wouldn't really know, because I spent exactly 10 months knitting this sweater! The pattern is the Rockling Cardigan from Graphic Knits, and I used the called-for yarn, Cascade Eco+. It turned out a little larger than I was expecting, especially in the sleeves: ..but I can fold up the cuffs and make it work: The idea is that this would be a snuggly layering sweater, so I'm ok with an excess of positive ease....although we discovered that it fits Tyler (albeit snugly), so perhaps I went a little overboard in that department? Honestly, it's been so long since I started this project that I can't even recall whether or not I got gauge - and of course, I kept no notes whatsoever, because why would I want to refer back to those at any point?! Last fall, I bought these fun owl buttons to use on this sweater, thinking I would have it fi...